The Federal Court has set Sept 10 to hear an application by Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown and two others for leave to appeal against a defamation ruling.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling last December held them liable for defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu, Sultanah Nur Zahirah.

The sultanah’s lawyer Mohd Haaziq Pillay Abdullah, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed the new hearing date.

He said the hearing would be held online via Zoom unless the court directs otherwise.

A case management was held before Federal Court deputy registrar Husna Dzulkifly today to fix the hearing date.

On May 30 this year, the Federal Court postponed the hearing after Rewcastle-Brown’s (above) lead counsel Americk Singh Sidhu was unable to log into the online proceedings due to technical issues.

Judge Nallini Pathmanathan, who chaired the Federal Court three-member bench, informed the parties concerned that the court would set a case management date to schedule a new hearing date.

Rewcastle-Brown is seeking permission from the Federal Court to appeal against the Court of Appeal ruling which found her, Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin, and printer Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd liable for defaming the sultanah.

The defaming content was in her book, “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of The 1MDB Expose.”

The appellate court awarded RM300,000 in damages to the sultanah.

On Dec 12 last year, the Court of Appeal overturned the Oct 31, 2022 High Court decision which dismissed the sultanah’s RM100 million lawsuit against the editor, Chong, and Vinlin Press.

The Court of Appeal ruled that at the time of publication of the book, the statement was calculated to expose the sultanah to hatred, ridicule, or contempt.

The sultanah filed the suit in 2018, claiming the defendants (Rewcastle-Brown, Gerakbudaya Enterprise, and Vinlin Press) defamed her in the book.

- Bernama

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